IDPL is the largest Central Pharma Public Sector Undertaking in India with plants at Rishikesh, Gurgaon & Hyderabad and two Subsidiary Units at Chennai and Muzaffarpur.

The vision of first Prime Minister of India, Late Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru regarding Indian Drug Industry was that “the drug industry must be in the public sector….. I think an industry of the nature of the drug industry should not be in the private sector anyhow. There are for too much exploitation of the public in this industry”. With the vision of the then Prime Minister of India, IDPL was incorporated in April, 1961 (Company Registration No. 3418 of 1961-1962 with Registrar of Companies, Delhi and having its Registered and Corporate Office at Gurgaon) with main objectives of creating self-sufficiency in respect of essential life saving medicines, to free the country from dependence on imports and to provide medicines to the millions at affordable prices and not to make millions from the medicines. IDPL was basically conceived and established as a part of Healthcare Infrastructure and has played a pioneering infra-structural role in the growth of Indian Drug Industry base.

IDPL played a major role in the strategic National Health Programmes like Family Welfare Programme & Population Control (Mala-D & Mala-N) anti-malarials (Chloroquine) and prevention of dehydration (ORS) by providing quality medicines. During the country’s calamity of outbreak of Plague in 1994, IDPL was the only company which played the sheet anchor role in supplying Tetracycline for the entire Nation. Similarly, company had made uninterrupted supply of Chloroquine to combat Malaria epidemic in different parts of the country. In 2005 to combat national emergency (leptospirosis) arising due to flood in Maharastra, IDPL had supplied required Doxycycline Caps. within no time.

IDPL has always supplied quality medicines and its presence has played a price balancing role in the competitive & business environment. World Health Organisation had made its observations on IDPL as follows :-

“IDPL had achieved in 10 years what others have in 50. IDPL products have been examined for quality very carefully by the developed countries … and many of them want to buy from here”